Know what is in each godown and what came in
The sacks are at the back, the lorry came at night, and the count is on a wall in chalk.
What a godown count works with for dal, potatoes and wedding chairs
Godown stock
The dal wholesaler names his two godowns and the potato trader names the cold store, and each has its own count and its own note of what came in.
Orders to suppliers
The mill's lorry of toor dal is written into the godown where it was unloaded, the same night.
Many shops, one owner
The shop on the main road and the godowns behind it are kept under one account, so the answer to a big order does not depend on a walk.
Low stock warnings
The godown count shows what is running out before the shopkeepers start phoning for it.
Sell to other businesses
Two godowns for the dal, each its own place with its own number, so sacks that leave by lorry are taken off the right godown.
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A count for every place the goods are kept
The night's lorry is counted into the godown it went to
Name the godown near the market and the one further out where the lorries can turn, and write down what came in at each. The lorry that arrives at night is written into its godown before the munim goes home. In the morning, thirty sacks of toor dal are a number on the phone and not a walk to the nearer godown to look.
The cold store is one place among the trader's places
The trader gives the cold store a name, like his shed. He writes down the bags that went in and the bags that came out. On the day he is offered a price, he knows how many bags are still there and where, and he does not have to call the cold store to ask. When the price is right he can say how many bags he is able to offer, the same minute.
What came back, written in the godown it came back to
Name the two godowns and write down what returns, as the lorry is unloaded. When the next booking asks for four hundred chairs, the owner opens the count of each godown, says which one holds them and sees whether the full number is there.
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Two godowns for the dal, a cold store for the potatoes and the chairs that come back from a wedding
Two godowns, one set of chalk marks
A dal and rice wholesaler keeps one godown near the market and a second further out where the lorries can turn. A lorry comes in at night, and the munim chalks the number of sacks on the wall of whichever godown it went to. In the morning, a shopkeeper wants thirty sacks of toor dal, and the wholesaler walks to the nearer godown to see if there are thirty. By the time he is back at the counter, the shopkeeper has bought from somebody else. Nobody wipes the chalk until the lorry after.
Potatoes in a cold store you do not own
India has 8,815 cold storages with 40.21 million tonnes of capacity for perishables, the government said in September 2025. A potato trader keeps some of his stock in one of them, in lots, and the rest in his own shed. He knows how many bags he sent in. What is still there, he learns on the day he asks the cold store to bring them out.
The chairs that come back from a wedding
A tent house hires out chairs, tables and steel vessels for weddings. After the last night the lorry comes back at dawn and the boys stack what returns in whichever godown has room. The owner knows how many chairs went out. He does not know how many came back, or in which of his two godowns they are, until the next booking asks for four hundred.
Questions from traders whose goods wait in more than one place
Four hundred chairs went out for a wedding. How do I know how many came back?
Write the chairs in at the godown where they were stacked, as the lorry is unloaded. The count of each godown then shows how many are back and where, and the number that went out is the one you read it against.
Does it tell me how old the stock in a godown is?
No. It shows how much is there and what came in. It does not follow when a lot arrived or when it expires.
Can I issue a warehouse receipt against what is in my godown?
No. Bharatrath keeps your count of what is in each place. Electronic warehouse receipts are issued by warehouses registered with the authority, which is a different matter.
My munim keeps the chalk marks and I keep the phone. Which one is right?
Write what the chalk says into the count once. After that, the phone is the one you read, and the wall is the one you wipe.
The godown is shared with my brother. Can his goods be a separate place?
Give each set of goods its own place name. Your brother's place is one more place, with its own count, and it does not mix with yours.
Storage in India, in two government figures
FCI and state agencies hold 917.83 lakh tonnes of covered and CAP storage capacity for central pool grains, says a September 2025 government release. The grain a wholesaler sells moves through a country of very large stores.
The Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority had registered more than 4,800 warehouses by November 2023; only registered ones can issue electronic warehouse receipts. A godown that is not on that list still needs its count.